In this issue: 1. Opening comments 2. SurfSafely Status report 3. Another one bytes the dust 4. Coming to a web site near you ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Other news and guest articles may be submitted for editorial review to mailto:news@surfsafety.com. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Opening comments ================ As many of you may be aware, demand for my presence on radio and television as well as to lecture privately to various groups interested in learning more about online safety is steadily on the rise. I am encouraged by the trend but still shocked every time I learn how few have yet to APPLY what I teach them in the home. Knowledge is dead if we don't use it. Worst case, it may be more than knowledge that dies. About 4 weeks ago I appeared as a phone in guest on WTVN, Clear Channel radio in Columbus Ohio. The topic of discussion centered around the rape of a 16 year old girl who went to meet what she thought was a 16 year old boy she met in an online chat room. That "boy" turned out to be a 29 year old pervert who brutally raped her and left her for dead. By the grace of God she is still with us. A couple of weeks before that I was asked to be a phone in guest on the nationally syndicated broadcast of The Dixon Report. Same type of scenario. Is it any wonder that I take such a hard line against any form of anonymous online chat? Can you see why I believe it is so vital that parents be involved in their children's online activities? That they monitor and, yes, even restrict their usage? It only makes sense and it could save your child's life. How many wake up calls will it take for YOU to act? Please don't put it off. Do something now. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SurfSafely status report. ========================= The last time I reported on the progress of my search engine at http://surfsafely.com/ it was at 2117 PICS rated sites indexed. As of today that number is 11,549 from over 4000 unique domains and still growing. One of my favorite things to do is peruse my own index and be amazed at the quality and diversity of content there. Why do I allow only PICS rated sites? Would you buy a can at the grocery store that had it's label removed? Would you open your front door to someone knocking if they held their hand over your peephole and would not speak? Of course not! So why allow content to make it to your desktop that authors will not label for you in advance? Every single day, web developers demand space on our desktops without identifying their content first. I say "Enough." PICS is our peephole onto the web, every major browser has it and no one has the right to tell me that I must allow myself to be made subject to content that I do not wish in my home. Period. The more we all use this index, the louder the message we send to the web development community that we will accept nothing less than labeled content so that we may opt in or out as we please. Please, use my index. Use it in good health. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Another one bytes the dust ========================== I received a very disturbing e-mail a couple of weeks ago. It was from the developers of Chatminder, a top rated monitoring program which creates transcripts of all messages received on and sent from a computer. It was developed primarily to monitor the activity of children online but I have heard stories of how it has saved a marriage or two as well. But that's all history now. They wrote to thank me for the link I put up to their product web site and the support I had lent their marketing efforts but for them it was a losing proposition and they had decided to pull the plug October 31. For all that they invested, for all of their efforts, of all the rave reviews and media attention, they still only managed to sell a few hundred copies. They're a small company which produces data acquisition hardware as their primary end product. The software was developed by one of their engineers in his spare time and marketed through the company. It was their first attempt at marketing a software product and, needless to say, it may be quite some time before they attempt it again. When I received the message I called them immediately and BEGGED them to not abandon the product entirely. I proposed that, if they were certain they could not make a profit from it, they should at least release it as a freeware product. I offered to use surfsafety.com as a free download site and put a free floppy disk in with every copy of Child Safety-Net I sell. They said they would seriously consider my proposal but a few days later notified me that they could not devote what man power they have to reconfigure the software for freeware distribution. And, they do not want to be in a position of still having to lend support for a product that will be generating zero dollars. I don't blame them but disagree that they would have to. It is my understanding that they are in the middle of a very large project and simply must devote every waking moment on the job of every employee towards the completion of that project. Once their work load decreases again, it is my hope that we will be able to revisit the proposal. This is a sad commentary for me to report. By all estimates I have seen, of even the most computer literate households, only 18.7% use any kind of software intended to guard their children from harm online. I've also seen estimates as low as 4%. People still do not recognize the value of knowing what's going on with their children online. Will it help to make it freely available? Who knows? Maybe that should be my next quick-poll question. In the mean time, I am looking into becoming a distributor for a similar product called Chat Nanny (No relation to Net Nanny, thank God!). Yes, it does cost. $30.00 plus S&H. On the bright side though, it does look like a promising product. Time will tell. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Coming to a web site near you ============================= My efforts to gain exposure in the media for SurfSafely.com have again turned to seeking links from other high profile web sites. Some were given to me without my knowledge that I found by searching, some were given to me after having asked for them, and others have declined to link. Actually, only one site declined. ZDNet. It seems they prefer to list "Family friendly" search engines that only contain entries filtered against the value systems of others they do not know and criteria they have no access to. Ever notice how some folks are just so narrow minded they can look through a key hole with both eyes at the same time? :-) This list is by no means complete but if I did try to list them all there'd be little room for anything else! The most notable additions are from About.com and CNN.com. Spend some time here. A little at a time if you have to. These sites are definitely worth your time to look over. Linking to SurfSafely.com ------------------------- About.com, Family Friendly Search Engines http://familyinternet.about.com/parenting/familyinternet/cs/filteredsearch/index.htm In the San Francisco Chronicle (newspaper) 06/01/2000 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/06/01/BU56189.DTL Not a direct hyperlink but full mention of the site. At the Public Safety Dog Academy web site in Philadelphia, PA http://www.safetydogs.com/safedir/internet.htm From Verizon Wireless (of all places) A Parent's Guide To Internet Safety. http://www.gte.com/extracredit/article1.html From St. Clement School in Chicago, Child Safety Online http://www.stclement.pvt.k12.il.us/parent/safety.html Promo page from the Dixon Report interview http://www.thedixonreport.com/20000917radio.htm Plus dozens of other directories based on the DMOZ open directory project at http://www.dmoz.org/. Linking to SurfSafety.com ------------------------- At CNN, Tools: Protecting your kids online http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/10/09/dot.com.tools/ From the Glencoe Norton Online Instructor's Resource Center Parental controls on the Internet. http://www.glencoe.com/norton/n-instructor-/updates/1999/122099-3.html At TeenOutreach.com http://teenoutreach.com/parents-corner/Child_Safety.htm From the Education Department of Eastern Connecticut State University Keeping the Internet safe for children/A Electronic textbook. http://www.ecsu.ctstateu.edu/depts/edu/textbooks/safety.html An example of Internet Service Providers linking to SurfSafety.com http://www.basec.net/kidsonline.html At Netparenting.com, a leading online family resource http://www.netparenting.com/info.htm From the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at University of Oxford Programme in Comparative Media Law & Policy http://pcmlp.socleg.ox.ac.uk/resources4Oct.html At the ezine Main Street Mom http://www.mainstreetmom.com/great.links.html From TOWN OF ESOPUS LIBRARY in Port Ewen, NY http://www.esopuslibrary.org/childst.htm By Dr. Sheila Offman Gersh, City College of New York http://www.schoollink.org/twin/child_safety_on_the_internet.htm And lastly, a paper by Professor Susan Brenner and Professor Rebecca Cochran at the University of Dayton School of Law http://www.cybercrimes.net/99MSCCC/MSCCC/Article3/3.02.2.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That's news for now. Until next time... Be informed, Be involved, Be well. Sincerely, Mark Brasche ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~